We harvest the crop only one day to become the planters of
seeds; of which we will one day see our own crop harvested by our children. We
are the farmers of life; many generations before us and for many generations
after us. Our fields are strategically placed in an area that is familiar so
that we can harvest, plant and harvest yet again amongst the seeds of our
family line.
Not every field we harvest is filled with an abundance of
fruit in fact sometimes our fields are filled with unwanted weeds. It is our
job as the framers to know the difference between them. It is difficult at
times to recognize the weeds as they are sometimes as beautiful of a plant as
is the ones we will nourish our bodies with. That is why it is so important to
harvest your own field with someone who has harvested before. Their lessons and
tips are the experiences of their life. They will teach you the difference
between them, so that one day you will be the farmer who teaches your own.
With each year that passes we learn so much from the
previous plantation. We increase our knowledge of how to better care for our
plants. We learn to protect them from the sun, the rain and from insects…. We also
enjoy the vegetation once it is fully grown and harvested.
Much like a garden we are the seeds, as our parents have
planted us, and we in turn replant the same fields with our own seeds. The hope
is that by the time we are ready to be farmers we know how to seed, plant, care
for and harvest our own. In turn we teach our own children how to plant their
own and they will someday teach their own, and their own will teach their own…….you
get it..
So what are we planting? What type of seeds are you farming
and how are you a different farmer than that of your parents? We all plant
differently and care for our fields in different ways despite the way we were
taught. We change and modify our methods to enhance the crops we plant. We take
all of the advice that we can from the framers before us. We carefully dissect the
information to see what best works for us.
As parents that is how we learn to raise our children. We
all know that our children are not delivered with an instruction manual stapled
to their backs. Lord only knows that I wish that mine would have come with
their own specific directions as they are each so different from one another.
We can only go by what we know from the “farmers” before us.
Where the harvest as good …we build on that. We incorporate
all those teachings into our own teachings. Where there were deficiencies we
add more care to the way we grow our own plants. To say that all a farmer needs to do is to plant
his seed and walk away until harvest time would be a complete lie, and if a
farmer did this to his crop, the weeds and insects would eat away at his
plants. Come fall there would be nothing to harvest.
A good farmer is in his fields constantly assessing his
crops, making sure that the weeds are controlled, and that the insects are not
eating at his plants. He continually cares for his plants by nurturing them
with water, sun and love.
When we as parents tend to our garden we must make sure that
our children are aware of ‘weeds’ (people)and that some will even look like beautiful
flowers , but to know the difference. We also need to show them that “insects”
are just that…people that will eat away at you if you let them. Our children
need the warmth of the sun to grow…God and all things good in life are the sun.
Water is the support and nourishment that our children need to be successful
loving individuals. Love is also so very important, when you love your garden
you want to spend all of your time there…..with your children.
One of the things that I have never understood is why people
don’t stop the cycles of poor farming. Why plant seeds in a field of poor soil
or where you know there are not enough light or rain fall, and expect your
seeds to grow. Why place a seed in a field full of weeds and insects? Or if you
do….why not try and save your seed from your own mistake of planting it in the
wrong field….
I will never understand why people do this. Is it because
you don’t want your children to have more than you or a better quality of life
than that of yourself? Do you hold it against your own seed that their field is
better than yours? Shouldn’t you always want more to harvest? Don’t you realize
that the bigger the field, the bigger the crop that….that means a bigger
harvest for all to enjoy?
I will say this again….I will never understand why people don’t
know how to treat their seeds better than the plants they have already grown…. “if
I didn’t have it…why should you?” attitude should be “I didn’t have it …so here
I want YOU to enjoy it” if you don’t understand what I mean by this …. You should
know you might be a poor farmer. Sorry
I am not trying to be self-righteous by any means by saying
this. I am NOT a perfect “parent” or
“farmer”…… that is for dam sure, but I will tell you this. I only learned how
to plant my garden by first assessing my field and seeing what I lacked in my
own. I also looked for all the goodness of care that came from the farmers
before me. I also looked at other fields near by to see how well their
plantation was growing…..
So you look at your own life and think wow I loved that my
parents did this, and you make for certain that you include this in your own
style of living life and raising your own children. You also have moments that
make you say “no way will I ever do that”…and you don’t. In a sense you BREAK
THE CYCLE… so wish to God people would get that…say it again with me this time….BREAK
THE CYCLE. Ok..... here is another really, really important thing…..look around
for other parents. It is ok to be inspired by others, that is why they are in
your life or in your community. We all know it takes a community to raise a
family. There are other teachers /farmers for you to learn from. Hopefully you
step up to the plate when you reach maturity and be a teacher or farmer that
others look to.
There are people that I know and have spoken to many times
that just don’t get it. I have a hard time being friends with them, as they don’t
put their children first. EVER. I have no understanding of this. I can never
imagine having something before one of my daughters. My stress and pain and
going without is something I shield from them…they are my crop to which one
day I hope to be present during its
harvest…. That is all I can say.
The beauty of being a parent/farmer or a person is does NOT
matter where your seed was planted or where you plant your own seed. You can
change the direction or location of your plants any day and at ANY time,
whether you are 10,43, 70 or 90…..it does not matter. You can bring your fruit
to full fruitation at any given time. There are no excuses EVER! If there is
not enough light in your life you simply look for the sun, if there is no
water, bring it to a new source, and where there is no hope you find it….you
create it. It is your responsibility to protect your own plant and that of your
children.
You will be harvested someday but your seeds will be planted and
those seeds will plant their own some day and it will be how you taught the
future farmers that will determine what field your family is in. IT IS YOUR
field;YOURS.
Lastly, I sat in a church on Saturday March 1st and heard Ron
Dufualt my beautiful cousin speak of his father on the day we laid him to rest.
His eulogy was about his father’s last conversation before he passed. I sat and
listened to each and every word that man spoke. Here is why…I am always thinking
about what I want to say to my children and family before I die, and was
thinking of this piece before I wrote it, and what Ron talked about made me
form and shape my thoughts.
Uncle Ron told his son about his garden. As my Uncle was
very proud of the vegetable garden that he and his wife have planted in their
yard year after year; he told young Ron how they should manipulate his plants
and what plants they should add. He also told him to turn certain vegetables to
access the sun better. I raised my hands in to the air in praise as I felt that
he was actually giving a sermon about life.
Perhaps he was talking about his
cucumbers and his tomatoe plants as if they were mere plants but I know he was
referring to his garden/family. He wants his children to change direction in
their own fields and feel the sun just a bit more and he wants more tomatoes to
harvest….he wants his family to continue to grow, with the same love and care
that he has planted year after year. At least that is what I took from it.
My garden is planted, my seeds are nestled beneath the
softest soil and I water them, and protect them from the weeds and the insects,
I bring them to the sun and hope that someday they will rise through the soil
and be the most incredible plants that my own field has never seen. Someday I
will enjoy that harvest and wait to enjoy the goodness of the fruit. I am a
very blessed little farmer today.
~Christine~
My Seeds.....
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